Ippudo 一風堂 Still Our Very Favourite Ramen House – London Bloomsbury

This week we went to get our fix of Japanese ramen at the famous Ippudo (pronounced as ih-PU-doh) in London Bloomsbury. Ever since they opened their first branch in the UK, it’s created a bit of a buzz within the foodie world – especially those of us that love their ramen!

Ippudo has over 80 restaurants dotted all over Japan and is famous for it’s deeply intense pork broth and perfectly cooked ramen. So of course we had to share our experience here with you!

To kick off the meal, we had two of their hirata buns:

Pork bun (£4.00) – this is their classic, signature soft braised pork belly bun. A little slice of iceberg lettuce adds a nice crunch to the dish, otherwise you’d literally feel like you’re eating air since the bun is so soft and fluffy! A thin layer of mayo and a special chilli sauce combines everything together. A must try if you go to Ippudo!

Chicken bun (£4.00) – chicken katsu (coated in bread crumbs and deep fried) in a soft fluffy steamed bun. Similar to the pork bun, there’s the thin layer of mayo and a slice of iceberg lettuce.

Next we tucked into the lovely ramen. Each came topped with 2 slices of their famous tender pork belly, spring onions, kikurage mushrooms and a dash of black garlic oil. Don’t be put off by the garlic oil though, think of it like when you add a dash of sesame oil to your stir-fry – its an added level of fragrance to the dish!

First up is the Akamaru Modern (£11.00) – Ippudo call this their “bolder translation” of their classic pork broth, as its got their secret special blended miso paste (fermented soya beans).If you like miso, then this is definitely one for you.

Second, we had the Karaka-Men (£11.00) – Ippudo’s original tonkotsu broth with a blob of their spicy miso paste. Definitely not for the faint hearted. The depth of the chilli really hits the back of your throat, yet it’s not too overpowering as you can still taste the intensity of the pork broth.

The down side to Ippudo is that there’s not enough of the yummy melt-in-your-mouth pork belly. You also have to pay extra for the additional toppings. You can order the extra toppings individually, or you can get the special combination plate (£5.00) like us. This has pork belly slices, crispy seaweed, soft boiled egg, spring onions, beansprouts, kikurage mushrooms. If you only choose one extra topping, definitely go for the soft-boiled egg!

A meal wouldn’t be finished unless we had dessert too! We opted for the Houji-Cha Pudding (£5.00). This was a smooth milky-like pudding, similar to the panacotta. The pudding is flavoured with roasted tea and topped with a layer of sweet kuromitsu sauce (black honey). The whipped cream on top is flavoured with honey. Nothing we’ve ever eaten before, so slightly weird, but oddly satisfying

Each time we go to Ippudo, they never fail to impress and this time was no different. Like Yummy Jubbly, Ippudo’s mission is “to spread smiles”. Yummy food made with care and affection will always have a soft spot in our hearts. So we’ve given Ippudo a whopping 4.5 yums! There’s lots of ramen places popping up in London now, but none can compete with Ippudo. Which doesn’t surprise us since their founder – Shigemi Kawahara – has been dubbed the ramen king! So if you’re looking for a ramen place to try, Ippudo is definitely one to visit!

Ippudo Ramen London Reviewed by Yummy Jubbly Author on2015-12-03.Each time we go to Ippudo, they never fail to impress and this time was no different. Like Yummy Jubbly, Ippudo's mission is This week we went to get our fix of Japanese ramen at the famous Ippudo (pronounced as ih-PU-doh) in London Bloomsbury. Ever since they opened their first branch in the UK, it's created a bit of a buzz within the foodie world - especially those of us that love their ramen! Rating: 4.5

I have been to a ippudo in NYC, Manila, and Singapore and though there are some variations in the offerings, the service was good. HOWEVER, the IPPUDO at 3 Central Saint Giles Piazza; St. Giles High Street, London has ATROCIOUS service. After a 30 minute wait ( not unusual of ippudos), we were seated and after waiting another 15 minutes at the table, I had to get up and go find my waiter to take our orders. Our waiter ‘Eric’ took the order which was large sake, 4 waters, 2 ORDERS ( 6 pieces) of pork bun appetizer, 3 Karakamen ramen (2 with medium noodles and one with hard noodles) and 1 Shiromaru Hakata classic Ramen (medium noodles). and after 20 minutes he hadn’t even brought our sake or water. So I got up and went over to him and then he proceeded to bring the water. 15 minutes later, someone from the kitchen showed up and brought 2 PIECES of pork bun. I asked him what happened to the other pork buns and he said that the waiter only ordered two buns. So I called our waiter Eric over and told him that I ordered two orders of pork buns which is six pieces as exactly I had explained to him however he just didn’t seem to get it. The pork buns were quite anemic with the pork filling. 95 % bun and 5 % filling. This is not the IPPUDO that I know. Also, I had ordered Karashi takana to put in the ramen but that never came until later in the meal I had to ask another waiter for it. When our ramens came, I asked him which one had the hard noodles and he said ” it doesn’t matter because they are all the same”. WHAT?? I looked in my ramen bowl and it had mushy soft ramen noodles. I told him that I wanted hard noodles in my Karakka Ramen. He really didn’t seem to care. I know that in other parts of the world, ippudo takes pride in the quality of the food as well as customer service, however, London’s Ippudo clearly does not follow that philosophy. The waiter than suggested he will just bring some hard noodles which I can dump in my Ramen. WHAT?? So what am I going to do about my mushy soft noodles that are sitting in the ramen bowl mixed up with everything else that is in the bowl. The noodles don’t just come out so easily without the other elements of the ramen coming out with it. I told him that was unacceptable and I just want the Ramen noodles that I ordered. All in all, it was a very disappointing Speary and’s having been to multiple other ippudos around the world. If you have been to other Ippudos around the world or in your own home country, do not think of this Ippudo as being related to the one that you have been to in your own home country or at other destinations. This is clearly a very substandard ramen noodle restaurant. I have not been to other Ramen restaurants in London but I am absolutely certain that there are other Ramen restaurant which would for outshine Ippudo. This was an extremely disappointing experience, one I will never repeat again. Save yourselves the anticipation, excitement, or hype of an IPPUDO in London and go eat at any decent London restaurant whatever ethnicity the food is. I can’t imagine the service to be any worse than this or the food quality to be such a disappointment. TRUST ME, it is just NOT THE SAME IPPUDO that you may have been to in your own home countries. Save your money. Enough said.

I am so sorry to hear about your bad experience. Unfortunately my cousin whom used to work in Ippudo in Malaysia has left the company. Otherwise we could help you to reflect bad experience to him. Ippudo has been our favourite; we have been visiting for many times and we’ve never come such bad service/ experience yet *fingers cross*. We love Ippudo as their broth was thicker & creamier as well as the noodle being al dente. Please share your experience their customer service and hopefully they will correct the situation. Best of luck and thanks for dropping the comment!